One dumbbell, one explosive pull, total-body power.
Drive with your legs and hips. Keep the dumbbell close, like you're zipping up a jacket.
Ripping one dumbbell from the floor to your shoulder is powered almost entirely by your legs, the quads and glutes extending violently while the shoulder guides the bell into the catch. Working one arm at a time adds an offset load your whole body has to stabilise through the pull and the quarter-squat catch. It is barbell-style power training you can do with a single dumbbell and a square metre of floor.
The dumbbell version is easier to learn, needs no bumper plates, and works one side at a time, which adds a stability demand the bar never gives you. The barbell allows far heavier loads. For general power and conditioning, the dumbbell version covers most of the benefit with a fraction of the technique barrier.
No, and that is the most common mistake. The power comes from your hips and legs extending explosively, the arm just guides the bell close to your body into the catch. If your biceps are sore afterwards, you are curling, not cleaning.
Heavy enough that you must use your legs, light enough that the bell still moves fast. Speed is the point of a power movement. If the reps look slow and grinding, drop the weight.
